Magisk: "It's a lot about figuring out how people react in certain situations."

BLIX: Do you think that that new M4 update has had any impact on your playstyle so far? Have you had to change some stuff in the way you played the game and approach the game?

Magisk: No, I think for me, it doesn't really change too much because I'm usually playing like anchor positions, so now I have a good reason to play with 10 more bullets in that sense. So I don't really sit and spam like 200 smokes per round because I'm not usually in those positions. So it doesn't really make a difference for me because I usually don't have these long-range duels. But yeah, I think it's definitely changed a little bit.

If you look overall, I think you can see that the CTs are struggling a little bit more right now than they used to. Also, a little bit of our weakness right now is the CT-sides, we're really good at T-sides, but when we are on the good side, we don't convert the round that we should. So it definitely changed something. But it also is tough to play CT nowadays because people are becoming really good at antistratting and finding out new stuff, and they're really structured and disciplined, and sometimes they're fully alone.

So I think it's a lot more difficult nowadays to play CT, and you have to rely a lot more on your team around the whole map. For when you have one weak bombsite, they're going to abuse it, and they're not going to let you have a weak bombsite because they will find out in the preparation, and they'll find out that people are like winning a lot of rounds on this bombsite and all this kind of stuff. So it's really a lot about being able to trust the whole team on the CT side and be also a lot of individuals.

I mean, even though CT is about team play and stuff like this, it also relies on people being good individually because if you don't win the duels, you will lose the bombsite so fast. Like if you don't get any kills at all, it's just impossible. You also see it nowadays on CT side. If people lose the first kill, they sometimes stack 4 people on the same bombsite and almost hope that they're not coming there.

Because at the end of the day, you can save and keep a good economy as CT if you do that. And if they actually come, you have a good chance of winning. It's a lot about gambling, and it's a lot about trying to predict. It's a lot about figuring out how people react in certain situations. Many people love to push every time they lose first kills and stuff like this. Sometimes you're going to be standing still and waiting for them to push, and then some rounds they don't push, and then the next round where you're not waiting, they start pushing you. It's a lot about mind games and finding the tendencies and opponents' playstyle, at least from how the meta is right now.

Image: Copyright BLAST | [@jakhoward]

BLIX: Valve also brought in Anubis. Do you feel like it's a good map so far for you as a rifler? Does it have the potential to become one of those good maps that we'll see often in tournaments?

Magisk: I think it has potential. I think it's overall a decently good map. I think I like the way it is in that sense. But I feel like the bombsites need a little bit of tweaking, like the A bombsite. I feel like I have like 2 spots where I can play. Maybe there are 2 spots because everyone smokes heaven. Everyone is like Molotov on the side of the other side of heaven. So you basically have the big pillar in the middle of the site, and you have the other pillar at the plateau to play on, and it's like basically the only two positions you can play, and it's like you have nowhere to hide.

So when people execute you throwing 4 flashes, and people are just running in your face, and you're just going to be dead because you can't dodge it, and you throw a smoke, but it's going to be 4 people there, and they're just running you down. So I definitely think the A site is really weak for the CTs. I really think it's going to be a site that the T's are going to abuse a lot in official games once they figure out how to avoid getting killed by the AWP because, obviously, a lot of CTs they're going to put AWP around the position like trying to go into the room before going into the site.

I don't know what people call it, but people play a lot of AWP there because they want to try and avoid the executes. Sometimes people do the setup with the AWP and the rifle to ensure that if they come, you're going to be fighting them because you don't really have a chance otherwise. So yeah, I think it's a good map in that sense, but the bombsites need a little tweaking. Like even the B bombsite is like people that don't do a B execute; they do flashes and start running because you are going to be in their faces after 1 second. You are taking 1 second, and you're going to be in the face of the CT. ~

Because it's such a small bomb site that people if they do flashes and you get by the CT, will be in your face. They're going to be all the way on-site already. Like going from B lobby to all the way into the cave and, just like full-blown rushing you. So I don't like the overlay of that, like the way it's being played on the B bombsite. It doesn't matter if you have pistols or you have AKs. If you go B, it's going to be the same. It's going to be good in that sense. But I think that the whole around mid and the connection between the sites, I like that. I like the idea of that. But I think you need a little bit more [...] A little bit more space on the B bombsite and somewhere else to hide on the A bombsite, to be able to actually play somewhere else. You have 2 positions to play, and it's the only position to hide.

BLIX: My last question before I let you go. Valve recently came up with a new ranking for future RMRs. Do you think that that is the right way to go keeping in mind what happened with the Rio Major? FaZe is going out early after playing top teams, and you guys also played top teams pretty early on in the tournament. Do you think that this is the right way to go, or should they have waited a little bit longer?

Magisk: I'm going, to be honest, I haven't read too much into the ranking yet because it's not been a major season, so I haven't put myself into the ranking. But if you look at the whole CS scenario with Valve during a ranking, I think it would both be good and bad. But it depends on who the people are. Like, if you have experts, you have players, [...] Maybe players, that's maybe not the best idea [to have], but you have talent, you have people who are like really comfortable around the area of Counter-Strike where you have a lot of people who comes in, maybe even some fans.

Not fans, but like, people who are neutral in that sense. You need a lot of people to make a ranking, to make it fair for everyone, because you have talents who's like best friends with some players, and you have people who, you know, it can be tough to make rankings like this. So I don't know how the ranking has been made, so I would have to put myself into that. But making a ranking from Valve can definitely be a good idea, but it depends on how it's made. And I'm going to be honest; I haven't read into it yet.

Image: Copyright BLAST | [@jakhoward]
Make sure to follow BLIX.GG for part 2 and more esports content!